


“I'm afraid I can't explain myself, sir. Because I am not myself, you see?”

by LuciaWilt



Series: Cross Time [4]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Canon Timeline, Discovery, Gen, M/M, Maes Hughes dies in every timeline, Philosophy, Timeline Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 14:38:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13366815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciaWilt/pseuds/LuciaWilt
Summary: “One and the same it seems. Though I can already guess that their creation was different.”“Why do you say that?” Edward asked, sitting once again. Roy watched Edward as he tucked himself up on the couch.“The homunculus in this universe were made from philosopher stones.”





	“I'm afraid I can't explain myself, sir. Because I am not myself, you see?”

**Author's Note:**

> And now we see some differences and similarities. I was going to have Roy and Ed kiss in this as well but that seemed a little too early haha.

Edward Elric woke up on a rather familiar couch. It seemed as though it did not matter the uniservese, Roy Mustang’s couch was always uncomfortable as shit. Though…though maybe he got so used to it, it started to feel comfortable. Like when you sleep on the ground for a long time and then you can’t handle fluffy beds. Maybe that’s what happened to Ed.

But this time, this time when he woke up, there was a difference. He would often use the pillows on the couch to cushion his head; but this pillow was different. It did not feel as though it was stuffed with feathers. This one was firm. Not as firm as the ground or the actual couch he was sleeping on, but still firmer than any sort of pillow he had ever used. 

Well, maybe not. When he was in Germany with Al, he used to sleep on his lap in their tiny little apartment. 

His eyes blinked open, weary and still blurry from collapsing. Though that did not affect his vision of Roy Mustang who was sitting above him. It did not matter what version Edward was around, Roy was beautiful. The Xingese ancestry was stark now with his hazy eyes. This close Ed was actually able to tell that Roy’s eye sight was damaged; but it did not take away from the beauty. 

He waited a few more minutes before finally speaking up, causing the General to glance down. “I apologize. You collapsed and we all thought it would be best if you got your rest. Al is down with the rest of the team taking an early lunch. And don’t worry, they went out and made sure to avoid as many of the “upper ups” as possible.” Ed had to take a sigh of relief at that. It was a good thing that Roy was smart no matter what. He would have killed him if he hurt; or put Al in danger, in any way. Never the less, Ed rubbed his head as he sat up; pushing himself up by using Roy’s knee.

“It’s fine. In our reality, you and I-“

“I know Fullmetal.” Ed blinked, glancing back at Roy who was staring down at the paper he had been reading. He still wore those thick glasses. Or he had put them back on at some point. “Alphonse told me before he went to lunch.” 

“I see. That brat.” Ed muttered under his breath. Either way he leaned back against the chair and took a long deep breath before looking back down at Roy. “I do have a question though.”

“Shoot Fullmetal.” 

“How did you lose your eye sight? I assume that Alphonse told you about our Roy and what happened to him.”

“He did.” And of course he would. Alphonse was smart; Edward suspected his brother was smarter than him, at least far more quick witted. It took Roy just a few more moments of putting the paper he was reading down and rubbing the bridge of his nose; shuffling a bit more on the couch before he answered. “I am unsure as to how your Gate works, but you cannot go through ours. It is more like a depository of knowledge. There is no “other side”. “ Ed blinked in confusion, rubbing his imaginary facial hair as Roy continued. “When one successfully opens the Gate, they learn the “Truth” about alchemy. The extremely simplified version of it; you gain incredible knowledge. However, that comes at a cost.”

It hit Ed at that moment. It comes at a cost. That phrasing was too similar.

“My Roy said he thought of human transmutation at some point in his life before he met us.”

This Roy stood up with a furious and offended look on his face. It took just one glance at Ed for him to sit back down on the couch, crossing his arms over his full chest. At some point while Ed was asleep, Roy had taken off his blue Amestrian coat, leaving him in just a white button down. “I did no such thing. I was forced to open the gate by doing human transmutation. Because of that, they took my sight. That man, he said it was because I “had a vision for the future”. Dr. Marcoh was healing…healing someone else before he started his treatments on me. I’m not fully healed yet but it’s getting there.”

Ed nodded, kicking his shoes off before curling his legs up underneath him on the couch. “Did you kill the Fuhrer?” Roy blinked. 

“Did your Roy kill the Fuhrer?” Ed nodded.

“Bradley was a homunculus. I can only assume he was a homunculus in this reality as well.” It was Roy’s turn to nod. 

“Yes. He was the homunculus Wrath. Though I was not the one to kill him. It was an Ishvalan.”

“So Scar killed him. Good. That’s good he got his revenge. How interesting though; for Bradley to be the homunculus Wrath. There are little inconsistences in the two realities; though they are similar. Bradley was Pride. I can only assume you fought him for your Pride.” It was a tease, but it still dug a bit at Roy. Thankfully Edward did not see him flinch. The blonde hummed, standing and starting to pace. “I wonder what other similarities there are. We know that both Edward’s and both Alphonse’s attempted to bring their mother back using human transmutation and then lost two limbs and a whole body in the process.” He turned towards Roy, motioning if he was correct and Roy nodded. Ed then turned back and continued to walk. “I came to Central, became a state alchemist, and then went off to look for the philosopher stone. In both realities, there were homunculus; that much is for certain.”

“Yes. Named and attributed to the seven deadly sins.”

“Hmm. We already found a difference in that. Your Wrath was our Pride. Therefore, who was your Pride?”

Roy rubbed the bridge of his nose again. Edward had to wonder if that was just something he did now, whether he was wearing his glasses or not. Losing your eye sight the way Roy did, he could only assume it caused headaches. “Selim Bradley was Pride. He was the first homunculus in this reality.”

Ed couldn’t help but laugh. Of course Selim would have been a homunculus here. “So the deception went all the way to the top. You have your Pride and your Wrath.” Roy watched Edward pause. “Lust and Gluttony? A beautiful woman and the big fatso?”

“One and the same it seems. Though I can already guess that their creation was different.”

“Why do you say that?” Edward asked, sitting once again. Roy watched him as he tucked himself up on the couch. 

“The homunculus in this universe were made from philosopher stones.”

Ed gasped, covering his hand with his mouth before steeling his face once again. “Ours were failed human transmutations. They were humans once upon a time, is what I mean.” There was a brief flash of surprise on Roy’s own face. “So the only difference so far, it seems, are our Wrath and Pride. Gluttony and Lust were the same. What about your Greed?”

“He tried to stay out of most of it.” Edward nodded and hummed, not saying much else but Roy had to assume he agreed, at least somewhat to the explanation. 

“And…and your Sloth?” 

Roy already felt something bubbling up in his stomach that could only be attributed to suspicion. “He was digging a large tunnel around the country for a nationwide philosopher stone,” Ed closed his eyes, in pain by the thought of that but not all that surprised. “He showed up on the border at Fort Briggs, disappeared, and only reappeared the day we stopped that philosophers stone from being created.” He paused, watching Ed blink his eyes back open. Roy had to stop himself from asking what was wrong upon seeing how watery Ed’s eyes were. “And yours?”

It took the boy a few moments of deep breathing before he could speak again. “As I said, homunculus were created by failed human transmutation.” Roy was no fool. He could put two and two together when Ed looked at him, tears in his eyes. 

“I could say it is not your fault but that would be insulting to your intelligence Edward.” And the blonde couldn’t help but smile; a sad thing but smiled none the less. 

“Thank you. Our Roy said the same thing. Let’s continue.” 

Edward stood once again. "So our Sloth’s were different, along with the Wrath and Pride. I feel as though our Envy’s will be…somewhat the same.” 

That had a dark expression forecasting over Roy’s face. It had Edward pausing and staring at him. “Yes. I would think that our Envy’s are the same; though that depends on if your Maes Hughes is dead.”

Fuck, Ed felt his eyes tearing up again. He hugged his arms tightly around himself, not even realizing that Roy had stood from the couch. He walked over and placed hands on either of Edward’s shoulder. He did not flinch at the automail; though Edward did not think he would. He had obviously been around automail before. “I know that this is not your fault Edward. He was a nosy man and would have gotten himself into it whether you came into the picture or not. Either way, that answers our question. Envy was the same in both of our realities.

There was a bit of hesitation at first, but Roy took a deep breath then wrapped Edward into his arms. The blonde sighed in comfort. It seemed as though Roy could always make him feel better with those strong arms wrapped around him. It made him feel better…

With Ed’s face buried in Roy’s chest, he whispered the words he was hesitant to say. Roy had not been angry; or at least his Roy had not been angry. Surprised yes, but not angry. “Envy was my half brother.” The body against his tensed for a moment, but Roy did not do anything. He just pulled up a bare hand, because he apparently took his gloves off while Edward was sleeping, and combed his long fingers through Edward’s hair. 

“That’s new.” Ed laughed at that. It sure was new.

The two of them stayed like that for what seemed like hours; long enough for Roy to shift and Ed to shift as well. “I wonder what other similarities between the two worlds there are?” Edward hummed his question into Roy’s chest. “You mentioned Scar earlier. That means the Ishvalan war still happened… There were doctors th-“

Ed’s voice was cut off by the sound of the phone ringing. The blonde did not want to walk away. He and this Roy may not be an “item”, but it was still Roy. He hadn’t spent much time with the Brigadier General recently so being held by him now felt amazing. None the less, he knew he had to let go; and he watched Roy walk over to his desk, straightening his shirt a bit as he went.

“This is Mustang.” He answered. There was a brief pause as someone spoke on the other end of the phone. “No. Do not let her up. There is a situation. No it is not dangerous but I cannot have visitors right…”

Mustang was cut off this time when his private office door opened and both men turned to look at who it was. 

“Mrs. Rockbell.” Roy said with a frown. “I didn’t know you would be visiting Central.”

She looked utterly shocked, glancing back and forth between him and Edward who looked a little surprised himself. As she walked closer, it became glaringly obvious that this Edward was in fact “not their Edward”. Theirs had grown taller and wider. This one had grown about an inch and had the body of a runner; not a boxer. 

That and he was shorter than Winry who their Edward was taller than.

Winry took one more look at Roy before glancing at Edward. “Ed?”

One of the last surviving Xerxians blinked. “What are you visiting him for?” 

Now both Roy and Winry were confused. After everything Roy had done this morning and after the shock Winry obviously just received, Edward’s words were perhaps the most bizarre. Winry placed her purse down on the couch. “I visit General Mustang on occasion while you are out of the country. Or… or well while…” She did not have to finish the sentence for both of them to understand. 

Though that did not seem to clear up Edward’s confusion. He looked between Roy and Winry this time before making a face of realization.

“Another difference?” Roy asked. The confusion in the air was palpable, but Roy was interested.

Edward nodded. “Who killed the Rockbell’s?” He asked to either of them. Winry was taken a back but answered. 

“I umm…I guess you wouldn’t know this…This is just too weird. The man that killed my parents was Ishvalan. His name was Scar. He actually worked… You know who Scar is. Of course.” Winry was catching on quickly for someone that just walked into a fucked up mystery novel.

“Yes. But he did not kill your parents where I come from.”

“Wait…Who did?” Winry asked and Edward gave the room a sad smile before he turned and faced Roy. The General went paler than he already was.

“I did.” 


End file.
